KING-TV

KING, "KING 5" is a television station in Seattle, Washington, USA. It is affiliated with the NBC network, and broadcasts on analog VHF channel 5 and digital UHF channel 48. Its offices and broadcasting center are located just east of Seattle Center.

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Early years

When Channel 5 came on the air as KRSC-TV for the first time in November 1948, it became the first television station north of San Francisco and west of the Mississippi River. The first broadcast, a live remote of a Thanksgiving day high school football game, was plagued with technical difficulties but local viewers were impressed nonetheless. After eight months on the air under the ownership of the Radio Sales Corporation, Channel 5 was purchased by Dorothy Bullitt and the King Broadcasting Company. The station became KING-TV to match its AM and FM sisters.

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Once the FCC-imposed freeze on TV licenses was rescinded in the early '50s, KING lost its monopoly on the Seattle TV market. KING went from "cherry picking" programs from all four networks to being left with the then-poor-performing ABC. Bullitt lobbied NBC for affiliation, and in 1959 NBC pulled its affiliation from cross-town rival KOMO-TV and granted it to KING.

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Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, KING-TV was known for its commitment to local news. Reporters such as Charles Herring, Ted Bryant, Mike James, Bob Faw and Seattle's first female newscaster, Jean Enersen, set a high standard for television journalism in Seattle. Management did not shy away from progressive causes during this time. Station president Stimson Bullitt angered the Johnson Administration with a groundbreaking anti-Vietnam war editorial in 1966. Investigative reporter Don McGaffin gave significant coverage to growing racial tensions in the city as well as corruption in the Seattle Police Department.

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The station was also well-known for its entertainment personalities. Among these are:

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• "KING's Queen" host Bea Donovan;
• Children's program hosts Stan Boreson and "Wunda Wunda" (played by Ruth Prins); and
• Weatherman and on-air cartoonist Bob Hale.

1970s and 80s

By the 1970s and 1980s, KING-TV was the flagship of a growing regional media empire, which at various times included ventures in publishing, moviemaking, cable television and even various timber assets in the Far East.

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During this time, the KING-TV news department was also a launching pad for several network news reporters, including CNN's Aaron Brown and Lou Dobbs, CBS Early Show contributor Hattie Kauffman and NBC correspondent James Hattori.

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Locally produced programming included Seattle Today, a midmorning talk show hosted by Cliff Lenz; Almost Live!, a Saturday night talk and sketch-comedy program originally starring Ross Shafer; and a local Evening Magazine franchise, first hosted by Penny LeGate and Brian Tracey. Only Evening Magazine exists today.

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King Broadcasting stations included KGW radio and television in Portland, KREM-TV Spokane, KTVB-TV Boise, KHNL-TV Honolulu and KYA/KOIT radio San Francisco.

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Long-time station-owner Bullitt died in June of 1989.

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1990s

Bullit's daughters Harriet and Patsy decided to sell the King assets in 1992 -- eventually unloading King Broadcasting (including KING, KREM, KGW, KTVB, KHNL and the cable system assets) to the Providence Journal Company. KING-TV and other King Broadcasting stations later became Belo properties as a result of that company's merger with ProJo in the mid-90s. (KHNL was later sold to Raycom.)

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Bonneville International Corporation purchased KING-AM in 1994, changed the station's call letters to KINF (later KNWX) and switched to an all-news format. KNWX switched frequencies with KRPM 770 a year later, transferring ownership of the 1090 allocation to EZ Communications, Inc. As of late 2004, Infinity Broadcasting-owned KPTK 1090 is home of Air America Radio. KING-FM was donated to a non-profit partnership of the Seattle Symphony, the Seattle Opera, and ArtsFund. It continues the classical music format started by Dorothy Bullitt and is one of the few remaining commercial classical radio stations in the nation today.

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The 1990s also saw the end of Almost Live!. During this decade, the show launched the career of Bill Nye the Science Guy.

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On December 18, 1995, King Broadcasting launched Northwest Cable News, a 24 hour regional cable news operation available to viewers in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. In much of the Seattle area, NWCN is available on cable channel 2.

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Present day

Belo also operates KONG television, an independent station featuring some news programming (provided by KING) and syndicated shows. KONG is available on UHF channel 16, and Comcast cable channel 6.

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In addition, an NBC Weather Plus affiliate, owned by Belo, broadcasts from the building. It is broadcast over-the-air on digital channel 5.2, and cablecasts on Comcast's digital tier in the Puget Sound area.

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The KING news slogan is "Coverage You Can Count On".

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It is one of five local Seattle TV stations seen in Canada on the Bell ExpressVu and StarChoice satellite providers.

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Television station: A television station is a type of broadcast station that broadcasts video and usually audio to television receivers in a particular area. Traditionally, TV stations made their broadcasts by sending specially-encoded radio signals over the air, called terrestrial television. Individual television s...

Washington: Washington is a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The state capital is Olympia and the largest city in Washington is Seattle. As of the 2000 census, the state population was approximately 5.9 million and the state work force numbered about 3.1 million. Residents are called "Washin...

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KING-TV related Images and Photos (experimental)

King	90210 (TV)	Castle (TV)	Archer (TV)
B.B. King	B.B. King	B.B. King	T.I.: King
B.B. King: 80	B.B. King: 80	T.I.: King	Episodes (TV)